Falcons' Kemal Ishmael earns new nickname to go with new position

Falcons' Kemal Ishmael earns new nickname to go with new position

Happy accidents can lead to some amazing things in the NFL. For example, last year the Atlanta Falcons were in a pickle heading into their Week 5 matchup with the Denver Broncos.

Rookie De’Vondre Campbell was out with an ankle injury. Not having much depth at weak-side linebacker, coach Dan Quinn tried a novel approach: have Kemal Ishmael switch positions from safety to linebacker. It worked as well as anyone could have hoped. Ishmael led the team with 10 tackles, and Atlanta went on to win 23-16 over the defending Super Bowl champions.

The Falcons since decided to permanently switch Ishmael to linebacker. And how’s that going, you ask?

Here’s a clue: the unit’s leader, Deion Jones says the other Atlanta linebackers nicknamed Ishmael “Savage,” according to Tiffany Blackmon at NFL Network:

#Falcons LB Deion Jones just said that Kemal Ishmael has been a great addition to the group- they nicknamed him "Savage".